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In case you didn’t know it, I have a new book that came out last week entitled, “Passthe Joy, Please!” It’s a book that encourages moms of every generation to embrace and to even celebrate the joy that is unique to motherhood.

“Pass the Joy, Please!” is a devotional and can easily be read in 5-10 minute pockets of time. I designed it that way so that even young moms, who are in the trenches of motherhood, can carve out time to be encouraged and to be reminded of the joy!

And so, today, in my weekly blog, I thought that I would give you a peek into my new book and then next week we will back to other business of the heart as usual.

Here you go … from “Pass the Joy, Please!”

God chooses the moment in history into which an ordinary woman is born.

God knew that I would be born in the middle part of the 20th Century when women were just beginning to roar. The battle of the sexes was being fought in the boardroom, in the courtroom and in the classroom.

The feminists of my generation were burning their bras while I sat nursing and rocking.

Women were shattering the glass ceiling while I was wiping up spilled milk from my kitchen floor.

Women were infiltrating the network news while I was reading “The Little Engine that Could” to toddlers who listened to my every word.

Now we are well into the days of the 21st Century and more than ever the identity and the call of women is being fought for.

Now, I certainly believe that a woman is as capable as a man to accomplish great things in life. I believe that a woman should be well educated and that her pay should be commensurate with the male counterparts in her profession.

But I also believe, even though it might seem politically incorrect to you, that God created men and women with certain inherent differences. I am not ashamed nor am I embarrassed by these differences but I choose to celebrate those determining factors!

Do you want to know what I believe at the very core of my being? The words “maternal” and “powerful” are not mutually exclusive but they create a glorious harmony that the world is waiting to hear!

I was born at this time in history for a reason and I won’t keep silent!

I will call the women under my watch to their destiny in Christ and perhaps away from the call of the culture. The culture in which you live should have no determination and no deciding voice in your destiny!

Every drop of purpose and circumstance that you choose to walk in should be actuated by the principles found in the Word of God.

You are a world changer, dear mother! You, with baby spit- up on your shoulder and circles under your eyes ... you are a world-changer!

You are a history maker, sweet mama. You, with a pile of dishes in the kitchen sink and a mountain of laundry waiting to be folded ... you are a history maker!

You are a woman of unmatched influence, dear mother! You, with the cry of a colicky baby in the air and the tantrums of a two- year old as daily reality ... you are a woman of unmatched influence!

You ARE the woman’s movement, purveyors of the next generation! And so I challenge you today to enjoy the journey. Enjoy every moment of outrageous Godliness and sweet strength that this job requires.

Love your life and celebrate with ferocity and with joy the little ones who call you “Mom”.

One of the most discouraging aspects of motherhood might be that your destiny is chiefly forged where absolutely no one sees it happening.

Your destiny is determined in a rocking chair during the midnight hours.

Your destiny is refined while building blocks with an impatient preschooler and while changing a fussy baby’s diapers.

Your destiny is most assuredly shaped when figuring out how to get your toddler to eat yummy and nutritious vegetables.

The culture in which we live taunts that we are only productive if we earn loads of money or if we use our very expensive education in the corporate world. The world falsely promotes the idea that we are only important if we are somehow able to garner the public exposure that we so deserve.

May I just simply and honestly say this ... the way of the culture has never been the way of the Lord.

God uses the backside of the desert to refine a person’s character; God has been known to use the dusty streets of Nazareth to prepare a person for greatness. God has even used the inside of a whale to forge a valuable work in a person!

During the years that I spent hidden while training my children and while fanning the flames of greatness in their miniature hearts, my college and high school friends were climbing the corporate ladder and making six-figure incomes. The only vacations that our family was able to take were ones that were paid for by very generous and loving relatives while my over-achieving high school friends were going to Hawaii and were driving BMW’s.

Our birthdays were mostly homemade and for Christmas my children only received what God had miraculously provided! But let me tell you ... our lack of material substance did not inhibit our ability to celebrate!

I remember during one class reunion that I attended while wearing a dress that was ten years old and knowing that I had left a colicky baby at home with my mother, one of my very successful and worldly friends declared to me, “Oh Carol! You are making such a sacrifice to stay home with your children!”

I humbly but respectfully responded, “Actually, it’s not a sacrifice at all. Being with my children is not a sacrifice but it is a joy!”

During those years, I said “No,” to prestigious job opportunities and I said, “No, thank you,” to significant ministry opportunities.

Knowing my destiny as a mother gave me the strength and the fortitude to say a resounding, “YES!” to God. And in saying, “YES!” to God, I was also saying, “YES!” to joy.

Joy is often found in the dark of night while comforting a sick child, on the dusty streets of motherhood and in the middle of a mountain of laundry!

He is with you during these days of motherhood ... and so you can count on experiencing the joy of His presence in abundance!

Thanks for listening to my heart this week. As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me. And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is!